Of course, for many years persons have placed at the top of their hygiene requirement list the use of implements for brushing their teeth. In point of fact, based upon various surveys and overviews of personal habits, nothing has yet been devised to replace the hand toothbrush as the means most used for performing that hygienic function.
In terms of such widespread use of the hand-held toothbrush, many have attempted to practically automate its use by combining it structurally with a means for pumping toothpaste to the top of the bristles of the toothbrush, or moving toothpaste to a point where it can be deposited at the bottom of the bristles of the brush. Moricich Patent No. 2,562,937 is an example of a mechanism for dispensing the toothpaste at the bottom of the bristles, as is Kim, U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,635 and Fey U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,158. Fox Pat. No. 3,816,007 is an example of a mechanism mentioned above, which uses a complex reciprocal pump, with a pump-valve dispenser construction for moving the toothpaste tube to the use position at the top of the bristles of the toothbrush.
Furthermore, other U.S. patents detail constructions, which provide mechanisms and structures similar to those mentioned above, and/or provide other mechanisms and structures to automate the paste-applying and/or toothbrushing functions. For instance, Casselman in U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,268 uses a rotating, bottom-tube control handle for controlling toothpaste feed automatically.
As to all of the above, the structures presented and suggested are particularly complex, cumbersome and expensive with respect to the function performed, and particularly with respect to the consideration that children make up a large portion of the user population.